Love and War
by theplaywrite
Summary: After Albert develops feelings for a new girl at school, he learns that she actually has eyes for Andy. Unfortunately, the boy's friendship is broken after they each place blame on each other. Will Albert be able to reconnect with the people he cares for the most or will tensions continue to run high?
1. New Girl

_Chapter__ 1: New Girl_

_Albert POV_

It was Thursday morning. The weather was particularly warm out for early May, which was a welcomed change from the bitter cold of the previous winter. I was walking to school with my two adopted sisters, Laura and Carrie. Carrie was a few strides in front of Laura and I, looking way too happy to be headed off to the schoolhouse. Laura, on the other hand, looked tired and almost dreading the school day ahead, but that was not because she did not enjoy school. Quite the opposite.

After earning her teaching certificate from the school board superintendent almost half a year ago now, Miss Wilder, the actual school teacher, gave Laura the position of assistant teacher to help her prepare to take over the class when Miss Wilder finally decided to leave Walnut Grove. Laura, or Miss Ingalls as she now liked to be addressed as, had been teaching the class and grading all of the papers over the past two weeks, which meant she was staying up late to get all of her work done. Miss Wilder had offered to help Laura with the grading, but my stubborn sister needed to prove to herself and to everyone else that she could handle the full responsibilities of being a teacher.

I bumped my shoulder into Laura's as we walked together, wanting make sure she was awake and alert. "Hey teacher. You've got enough energy to teach the class today?"

Laura glanced back at me with an annoyed look on her face, but I could tell she was too tired to reprimand me. "I'll be fine. I just had a slow time getting up this morning is all. As soon as I walk into that schoolhouse, sit behind my desk and hear everyone talking, I'll be wide awake."

I chuckled. "I hope so. Remember, you have that history lecture to give today."

"Oh yeah. You're right." Laura sighed in defeat.

"Seems like being a teacher isn't as easy as you thought it would be." I commented.

"I never said it was going to be easy. I just need to get faster at grading papers and be more organized with my work. If Miss Wilder, ma and Mrs. Garvey can all do it, than so can I."

"Glad to see we haven't warn the enthusiasm out of you yet."

"Albert! Laura! Hurry up! We'll be late." Carried called back to us.

"No we won't, Carrie." Laura responded to the well-intended command. "I'm the one who rings the bell."

As we walked through town and that all too familiar building came into view, I noticed that all of my other friends were playing a quick game of baseball before school officially started. I really wanted to sprint over there and join them. Getting to play games with the other kids was my favorite part of school. The learning was nice too, but nothing could beat the feeling of having everyone laughing and having fun together.

"Albert, would you go tell everyone to finish up their game?" Laura asked of me. "I'm going to make sure Miss Wilder is here, then I'll ring the bell."

"Alright." I nodded. Hopefully I wasn't turning into a teacher's pet.

Laura made her way inside the schoolhouse, Carrie found her friends sitting on the steps and I headed over to the group of boys still very much invested in their game. Part of me wanted to go against Laura's demand and jump in for one final hit, but my better judgement was getting the best of me this time.

"Hey, guys! Laura says she's gonna start school. Finish up the game!" I yelled out to everyone.

"Come on, Albert." Of course Willie would be the first one to protest. "We've got a man on second and on third base, and it's my turn to hit."

"We'll finish the game at lunch, Willie." Andy commented from third base, motioning for everyone else to retreat.

Willie scoffed. "You're just saying that because my team was just about to score against your's."

"I'm saying that because school is about to start."

I started shacking my head at the bickering. Andy and Willie were two of my best friends, but they were not as friendly with each other as they were with me. Although they did consider themselves as friends, it was based on the fact that they both went to the same school and lived in the same town, so they had to interact with one another. It is unlikely they would chose to stay friends in the long run.

Andy was my first real friend, besides Laura, and I considered him my best friend, even though we are at different points in our lives. Andy is two years older than both Willie and I. At first, the age gap between us did not really affect our friendship. But now, Andy being sixteen and Willie and I being fourteen, the differences in our ages was starting to show. Andy would hang out with the older boys in town more often and was definitely starting to look like a young man verses a kid. Willie and I still looked like young boys and could have fun with the little kids in town.

I suppose that is why Willie and I were becoming more friendly with each other over time. Of course, there was also the short period when Andy was furious with me and wanted nothing to do with me. It was almost a year ago now, when Clay Mays and I stole a pipe and smoked it in the basement of the blind school during a community picnic. We accidentally left the lit pipe in the basement after being kicked out by Hester Sue and it caught fire. Half of the building was engulfed in flames and Andy's mother, who had stayed to help clean up, was almost trapped inside.

It was a miracle Mrs. Garvey was able to survive and escape with Mary and Adam's baby in her arms. A week after the fire, Clay and I both confessed to being the ones who were smoking the pipe in the basement that day. At first, when Andy found out about my involvement, he was stone face. But then, the very next time we found ourselves alone together, he lashed out, punch me in the face and cursed at me about how horrible and irresponsible I was. I almost killed his mother. It took a few months for our friendship to heal. It was during those months when I became closer to Willie.

Just as the school bell started to ring, everyone sprinted inside the schoolhouse to find their seats. Once I was inside, I found my normal seat sitting next to Willie, with Andy sitting in the seat right behind us. Willie was trying to tell me about the baseball game, but was interrupted by Miss Wilder's clapping.

"Class, I'd like to introduce a new student."

Why on earth would anyone start school so close to summer vacation? I did not bother looking up. New kids seemed to come and go so frequently.

"This is Macy Smith. Her family just moved to Walnut Grove from Cleveland, Ohio. Now I hope you all are welcoming to Miss Smith."

I finally glared up at the new student and my eyes were immediately glued to her.

Macy had the most beautiful silky blonde hair that fell down to her back, with a few pieces pinned up delicately. Her skin was flawless and fair, with bright green eyes standing out. She definitely had a more mature figure than most of the other girls in school, so she was certainly a bit older than me. She dressed in a light cream colored lace top and a plaid brown skirt. She was gorgeous and I could tell that most of the other boys, and some of the girls, thought exactly the same. What was a stunning girl like her doing in Walnut Grove?

"You may take any seat, Macy." Miss Wilder said with a smile, certainly noticing the warm reaction of her class towards the new student.

Macy nodded and smiled at Miss Wilder as she stepped down from the front of the room. She had the most stunning and effortless smile. I immediately looked beside myself to see if I could push Willie off of the bench so that Macy could sit next to me. Unfortunately, when I looked over at Willie's face, it seemed he had the same exact idea I did. The two of us started elbowing each other for the seat.

However, Macy did not even glance at us. Instead, she slid herself into the sit directly behind us, right next to Andy. At first, I was still happy that Macy was sitting so close to me, but then I looked at Andy's face. A charming smile and an interesting gleam in his eyes that I had never seen him show before. One glance back at Macy's blushing face and I knew Willie was not the only competition I had for this new girl. It was kind of strange because Andy never normally gave much attention to girls in a romantic sort of way.

I sighed and faced forward as Miss Ingalls began the class lessons.

"Alright everyone. First, we're going to go over your arithmetic homework, then we'll move onto the history lecture." Laura began to explain her plans for the day, still looking tired. "Now, I've written problems from your homework onto the boards. I'm going to ask three of you to put your answers up and don't forget to show your work. How about...let's have Emma, Margret and Albert."

I immediately stood up went to the blackboard closest to me, not even bothering to bring my homework papers. Figuring always came easy to me. I picked up the piece of chalk, took about five seconds looking at the long division problem and jotted down my answer.

"Don't forget to show your work, Albert." Laura called me out. I wrote the numbers I brought down and made sure they were extra neat. "Thank you."

After I finished, I turned around and saw the two other girls, who were both relatively smart, still working on their division problems with homework papers in hand. I went to sit back down in my seat, but my attention was caught on Macy's beauty again. It looked like she was trying desperately to hold back a laugh. Then I noticed Andy was smirking, like he was the cause of Macy's laughter. I didn't think I heard him say anything.

The rest of the school day seemed to drag on. Laura's history lecture went on forever and most of the students stopped paying attention near the end of it.

As lunch finally rolled around, the baseball game from earlier that morning picked back up. I volunteered to be on Willie's team since they needed another outfielder. Honestly, I could have cared less about the game. I was standing so far away from Macy eating her lunch on the steps, I could only stare at her from afar. I had never seen such a beautiful girl before. I barely even heard her speak, but could still feel myself getting moony-eyed right before a ball was hit in my direction.

"Albert, pay attention!" Willie yelled at me from first base.

"Right. Sorry." I mumbled, barely even comprehending what Willie said. What was that girl doing to me?

"And take a few steps back. Andy's batting."

I looked away from Macy and saw Andy standing at home plate. He was getting both bigger and stronger, so it didn't take much for him to hit the ball all the way over to the mercantile. I glared in his direction. That was the reason why Macy sat next to him instead of asking to sit next to me. Andrew is older than me. Well, if Laura taught me anything, you don't necessarily have to be older to love somebody.

Andrew hit the baseball right in my direction. I wasn't able to step back fast enough to catch it in the air, but managed to get a grasp on it after one bounce. In a split second, I saw Andrew taking strides towards first base and Willie with his hands up for the ball. I fired the ball towards first base with as much strength as I could give it.

It was only after the baseball had left my hand, did I realize what I had done. It was not a quick lob to Willie like how I should have thrown it, but a hard, well-aimed missile heading straight for Andrew. Luckily, he saw it coming and slid down into first base, the ball barely missing his shoulder. Suddenly, the sound of clapping filled the air. All the kids watching the game cheered for Andrew's impressive play, including Macy.

I screwed up bad.

As I watched Macy clap and smile from the sidelines, I could feel both Andrew and Willie staring at me. They must have realized the way I threw that ball was no sudden mistake. I had no idea what was getting into me. My luck turned around when the school bell rang and I quickly made my way back inside. I faced forward the rest of the school day, not wanting to own up to what I had done.

After school, I went back home with my two sisters. Our ma greeted us as she was outside the house finishing up laundry, when she asked something of us.

"Could one of you be a big help to me? There should be an important letter at the post office I was meaning to pick up today, but I was at the resturant school all day and didn't have the time to run over to get it."

"I can pick it up for you ma." I said first.

"Thank you, Albert."

"What's so important about the letter, ma?" Laura asked before I could walk away.

"Well, I can't really tell you why it's important just yet." Ma explained, or lacked to explain.

"Oh, I understand." Laura said lowering her tired eyes. "I better get to grading."

"I'll be back soon. Don't start my chores without me." I joked, hoping Laura or Carrie would pick up some of my house work since I was running an important errand for ma.

As I was walking down the road back into town, I noticed someone else heading in my direction. I did not recognize who it was at first, but as soon as I saw that bright blonde hair, I stood up straight and smiled wide. "Hi Macy!" I called out to her as we approached one another.

Macy hesitated for a second. "Oh hi...Albert, right?" A soft smile appearing on her own face when she recognized who I was.

A feeling of pride and happiness swelled inside of me when she said my name. "That's me. I'm sorry I never properly introduced myself back in school."

Macy nodded her head at my apology. "Oh that's alright. To tell you the truth, I've already gotten everyone else's names jumbled up. But I remember you were the one who was really fast at arithmetic."

She remembered who I was over everyone else and it was because of my being smart! I could not ask for more, except two or three years on my age. "Well, you have to be a quick thinker when you want to become a doctor."

"You're going to become a doctor?" The beautiful smile reappeared on her face and I could tell she was excited about hearing my plans for the future. It's not everyday a former orphan now living in a farming town wanted to become a doctor.

"Yup." I continued to explain so as to improve my impression even more. "After I finish my schooling here, I'm going to apply to the state university. Miss Wilder says I might even have a real good chance at getting a scholarship."

"That's incredible, Albert! I sure wish I was able to do something as great as becoming a doctor." Her cheerful tone faltered a bit. Now it was time for me to bring it back up.

"Well you seem plenty smart, Macy. I'm sure you'd be able to do anything you set your mind to. Is there anything you really want to do?" Even though I'm still a kid, I know women like to talk about their own interests.

"Well...I want to travel and write about all the different places I visit, but that can't really help people like how being a doctor can." She was definitely looking for more confirmation from me.

"Don't say that. Think about all the books in the world that help people learn and feed their imaginations. You could be a source of inspiration for people of generations." I tired speaking to her emotional side, leaving out the details that becoming a great writer in this day in age is not necessarily for women.

"I suppose you're right. But it's still just a day dream for me." She was still faltering.

"Then don't let it be. Tell everyone you know that someday you're going to be traveling the world and writing thrilling tales about your adventures."

Macy suddenly started to laugh and I could tell it was a sincere laugh. "You really are something else, Albert."

My heart swelled. Maybe I had a chance with her after all. "Hey, why don't you come fishing with me sometime this weekend? I mean if you'd like to. I can show you the best fishing spot in the county."

"That sounds fun, but I'll have to let you know a little later. My ma and pa still need help cleaning and setting up our new house." Macy explained.

"Oh, I understand. You just let me know when you want to see that fishing spot."

"Will do and thank you. I'll see you in school tomorrow, Albert."

"Yea. I'll see you then, Macy. Goodbye." I honestly did not want the conversation to end so soon, but Macy started to walk away and I really needed to pick up the important letter before the post office closed for the day.

The following day at school was one of the best days at school I had in a long time. Miss Wilder took control of the class to introduce new arithmetic and gave us our last reading assignment for the school year. I understood the arithmetic within five minutes and actually was looking forward to reading the short novel Miss Wilder had chosen for our assignment. Macy sat across the aisle from me with one of the other girls, instead of sitting next to Andy. At lunch, the same baseball teams from yesterday played against each other once again. This time, I was the one with the incredible play, running from first to home plate and scoring the final run for my team. After lunch, Miss Ingalls quickly finished her history lecture and let the class out an hour early.

Over the next week, I was becoming more aquatinted with Macy. The two of us would talk sometimes during lunch or while walking home after school. She even asked to see the fishing spot I had told her about. We set a date the following weekend for the two of us to go fishing together. I was so excited and a bit nervous. I wanted Macy to like me because I really liked her. Was this how Laura felt when she was trying to get Almanzo to notice her?

When the day finally came, I was happily getting ready to take Macy Smith fishing.

"Where are you going?" Laura asked while climbing up into the loft we shared.

"I told you. I'm going fishing."

"Since when do you brush your hair real nice to go fishing?" Laura commented. I stopped combing my hair, which was something I had been doing for ten minutes. I wanted to look good when Macy saw me. Maybe look older and more mature.

"My hair was just bothering me this morning is all, so I'm trying to fix it." I did a few more sweeps of the comb through my hair, unsure if it really did anything for me.

"Who are you going fishing with?" Laura asked again. If I had known I was going to be interrogated, I would have left sooner.

"Why do I have to go fishing with somebody? Can't I go fishing alone?"

Laura gave me a puzzled look. "I just thought that after I was done with my work, I could join you."

No. I did not want my sister there ruining any chance I had with Macy. "Well...I don't know which fishing spot I'm going to yet. Besides, I thought you would want to spend the day with Almanzo."

"He's making a delivery to Sleepy Eye. If you don't want me to come, you could just say so." I could sense the sadness in Laura's voice. Ever since she started teaching and became engaged to Almanzo Wilder, the two of us hardly spent quality time together. Laura was always working or spending time with him. I could not even recall the last time we went fishing together.

"I just wanted the afternoon to myself." I did not want to hurt Laura. She was my sister and I did miss spending time with her. "How about I come back later in the afternoon and the two of us can go fishing for supper?" I said, not knowing how long I would be with Macy.

"Sounds like a plan." Laura smiled as she climbed down from the loft to continue her work.

After giving myself one last glance in the mirror, I left the little house and made my way over to the Smith residence. The house Macy's family moved into was definitely better looking than my home. I had yet to see how they furnished the place, but no doubt it was probably beautifully decorated. Like Macy.

"Hi Albert." Macy walked up to me from the front porch as I was approaching her home. "Thanks for taking me fishing today."

I smiled a bit too wide. "I'm happy to."

"My pa has been wanting a fresh fish dinner for the past week." Macy continued to explain in her sweet voice.

"Well, then let's get going." I motioned for her to follow me and we started walking side by side. "Have you ever fished before?"

"Of course. My pa and older brother loved fishing together and they always took me when they had the chance."

Our conversation continued as we journeyed to the fishing spot I had pick out. It was secluded and quiet, almost peaceful. It was the perfect spot to spend time with the girl I liked and who I wanted to like me back. Once at the water's edge, I showed Macy where the fish bit the most and we took a seat together.

"So, how do you like Walnut Grove so far?" I asked her to keep the conversation going.

"It's nice." She nodded her head slightly. "Definitely quieter than where I used to live."

"I know what you mean." I said without even thinking.

"Oh, where did you and your family live before you moved here?" Macy asked.

My face went stale after realizing that I had a lot to explain in answering her question. "Well, to be completely honest, I'm adopted. I met the Ingalls when I was living on the streets in a Dakota territory city."

Macy put her hand on my arm and I felt my heart jump. "Oh my gosh, Albert. You really lived on the streets? Alone? How did you do it?"

I did not really want to tell Macy I mainly gambled and stole for a living. "I shined shoes for cash, some nice venders would give me spare food and I made my home under a staircase."

"Wow! Forget about me writing books about traveling, you should write about how you lived on the streets and how you're working to become a doctor." Macy smiled. I was certain this was helping with my impression on her.

"Yea. That would be some story." Just then, I felt something tug at my pole and reached down to grab the line. Macy watched as I pulled up a small grey fish. "Little guy ain't he? I think I'll toss him back."

There was a brief moment of silence before Macy finally spoke again. "I suppose I should tell you why my parents and I moved here."

"Is it supposed to be a secret?"

"Not exactly." Macy's demeanor changed to a saddened state. "My pa just doesn't like to talk about it. We had a small store in Cleveland. Him and my older brother ran it together. But then my brother, James met this girl. After three months of courting, James wanted to marry her. My ma and pa were happy at first, but then James told them that him and his fiance were planning to move to New Orleans. Pa was in total disagreement and went as far as to discourage James from marrying her all together. James eloped and moved away. Pa didn't want to keep the store after James left and decided to retire to the countryside."

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother. Do you still have contact with him?"

"My ma writes him, but pa refuses. I think he's hoping James will come back without that girl."

"How do you feel about it? I mean, I suppose you miss your brother."

"I do. It feels like something is missing every time I go home and when we're sitting down for supper."

"I'm sure your brother didn't mean to hurt your pa."

"I know that. It still hurts though. Oh! I think I got one."

"Here, let me help you." I held Macy's line for her as she went to grab the hooked fish. "That looks like a good one."

Macy and I kept talking for the next two hours, about school, home life and our future plans. Neither of us were catching much fish, but we were having a great time anyways. I could not stop staring at Macy's smile. I was growing more attracted to her personality rather than just her beauty. I hoped she was beginning to like me too.

Over the next two weeks, I saw more and more of Macy. She continued to sit right across the aisle from me at school. The two of us almost always talked before school started and after it had ended. On one Saturday, I ran into Macy and she invited me to go fishing with her and her pa at the same spot I had shown her. Her pa seemed like a very quiet man. Very nice, but quiet. My guess was that it was because of his son practically abandoning them.

Before I even realized it, the end of the school year was here. Normally, I would be extremely excited for summer vacation, but not having school meant I would not see Macy as much anymore. I started to believe that Macy was growing to really like me. She always smiled at me whenever I waved to her and always went out of her way to say hello to me.

The afternoon before the last day of school, while I was finishing up my chores in the barn, I heard a rig driving up to the little house. I walked outside and saw none other than Almanzo Wilder.

"Hi Albert. Is Laura here?" Almanzo asked me with a smile on his face.

"No. She went into town with Carrie. They should be back in a few minutes. Why don't you wait around for her?" I told Almanzo. It was not an unusual occurrence for him to visit our home. Almanzo and Laura were a couple weeks away from getting married.

"Thanks. Need any help?" Almanzo jumped off his rig.

"Nope. I just finished up." I said, closing the barn doors behind me. "Are you staying for supper?"

"Oh no. I just wanted to ask Beth if she would like to accompany me to the summer festival." He told me.

I had completely forgotten about the festival. Nellie's restaurant was hosting the event after the final day of school to celebrate the beginning of summer and to advertise the new and improved menu. Practically everyone in town planned on going for the food and music. "Almanzo, you and Laura are already engaged. Do you really need to ask her to accompany you?"

"Well, I suppose it's assumed, but I still want to be a gentlemen about it."

That got me thinking. Macy would most likely want to attend the festival, but would she want to attend it with me? I could at the very least ask her to dance with me. I made up my mind in that moment that I would not only ask Macy Smith to have a dance with me at the summer festival, but I was also going to tell her about my feelings towards her. I had fallen for her.

The last day of school finally came. Miss Wilder and Miss Ingalls did not do much teaching, but instead passed out the last of our graded assignments. Willie was afraid he did not get good enough marks to continue to the next grade, but after helping him average his scores, he ended up passing. The school day had ended with a cry of excitement coming from the students.

Later that night was the summer festival in the town center. My whole family went together, along with Almanzo and Eliza Jane. There was so much food set out. Ma told me to try the apple pie she made special for the event and to stay away from Mrs. Oleson's blueberry pie. Pa had even brought his fiddle and joined the band playing cheerful music.

I began seeing a bunch of my friends from school along with their parents. However, I had yet to see Macy. I walked around the festival alone, trying to find her. Just then, slow music started to play. I glanced around, saw almost everybody grab a partner and start dancing together. And just like it was destiny, I saw Macy standing to the side by herself, dressed beautifully. Now was my chance! I quickly made my way over to her. At first, she did not notice me. She was staring off somewhere else.

"Macy!" I called out to her with a wide smile on my face.

She was jolted a bit, but was quick to smile at me. "Albert."

I wasted no time holding my hand out, hoping she would accept it. "Would you like to dance with me?"

Macy glanced around, like she was looking for something. Then, she turned back to me. "Sure."

I took Macy's hand and led her into the crowd of dancers. I carefully wrapped my arm around her, not getting too close. We started stepping in beat with the music. To me, everyone else in the room seemed to disappear. "You look beautiful."

She smiled, just like she had done so many times before. "Thank you. You look very handsome yourself."

"Thanks." It took me a moment to build up the last of my courage to speak those loaded words. "Macy, I've been meaning to tell you something."

"What is it?" She looked at me curiously.

"Well you see it's...it's kind of hard to explain. Macy...do you consider me a friend?"

"Sure. You're one of the first people I really got to know in Walnut Grove."

Now I would say it. Enough holding back. Enough dreaming about telling her. Tell her. Tell her now! "Macy. I like you. I mean, I really like you."

"Albert." I could not read her face. It was almost stale, like there was no emotion. I figured my confession would take her a bit off guard, but not by this much. What on earth could she be thinking? "You mean that?"

"Of course. I've had feelings for you for some time now. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to admit it."

"Albert." Macy looked as if she was really trying to concentrate on what she was going to say. "Don't you think that we...we're both so young and have only known each other for a few weeks."

I could not help my face as it grew sad and my voice cracked under the rejection. "You don't feel the same way about me." I said in a low tone.

"It's not like that, Albert." Macy scrambled to pick up the pieces. "I do like you, really I do. But just not in the way you like me, I suppose. I'm sorry. You're a great friend, but I-"

"Macy. It's alright. It was stupid of me."

"Albert."

"I have to go. I'll...bye."

I could not have felt worse. I really thought Macy would have had some sort of feeling towards me. Maybe not love, but something. Anything! I loved her. From the moment I saw her I felt an attraction towards her. When we spent all that time together, I grew to love her even more. My chest started to hurt. Macy flat out rejected me and all because we were too young. Seriously!

I started to walk away from the crowd of people to be alone. Suddenly, I noticed Willie running up to me.

"Hey Albert. Where are you going?" Willie asked, completely unaware of what I had just put myself through.

"I just wanted to get away from the crowd."

"Well come back to the festival. My pa just told me they're putting out another round of desserts."

"I'm not hungry, Willie."

"Are you alright?"

"I told you, I just need to get away." Were there tears forming in my eye? I ran off to the edge of town where nobody else was. I sat alone, feeling sad, embarrassed and rejected. I wiped my face with my hands. I wanted to go home.

Just then, I saw two people walking off by themselves, a girl and a boy. After just having my heart broken, seeing these two sneaking off to be alone together drove another painful dagger into my heart. That was supposed to be Macy and I walking together not...Macy and...Andrew?

I watched from the distance as my best friend put his hands on Macy's waist, bringing her in so they were only an inch apart. She moved her hands up his chest and finally wrapped them around his neck. He leaned down and kissed her. And it was not some quick kiss. They tilted their heads and locked onto each other for far too long.

I felt a fire of anger was building up inside of me. Macy rejected me because of Andrew Garvey. I had no idea those two were even seeing each other. Andrew was supposed to be my best friend and he had not mentioned her once to me. Macy told me that she and I were too young and did not know each other long enough to be in a relationship. Andrew knew of Macy the same amount of time I had known her. And she was not too young. I was the one who was too young for her apparently.

I wanted to get in between those two and rip Andrew away from her. Andrew was not good enough for Macy. She wanted to do great things with her life like me. Andrew just wanted to work some dirt farm for the rest of his life. After everything I had told Macy, after every conversation we had and every smile she gave me...it was not me she wanted.


	2. Relationships End

_Chapter__ 2: Relationships End_

_Albert POV_

The pain and anger that I felt after being rejected by the girl I loved, then seeing my best friend kissing her persisted with me for a few days. Part of me wanted to confront Andrew about him seeing Macy behind my back. The other part of me wanted to confront Macy and maybe try to win her over, now knowing the truth about the situation as to why she rejected me. Either way, I knew that neither of those approaches could assure me that I would be the one Macy would want to be with in the end.

The scene of Andrew wrapping his arms around Macy's waist and pulling her close played over in my head nonstop, fueling that anger. Andrew Garvey was supposed to be my best friend. He must of known how I felt about her. Was this payback for the fire a year ago?

It was late in the afternoon, about three days since the festival, when I found myself walking the path I normally took to the Garvey's house. I was not completely sure what drove me to go there. Andrew was the last person I wanted to see right now, unless seeing him meant I could get my hands in his face.

After coming up the property, I immediately saw Andrew near the barn, moving some crates inside. He was always such a hard worker. Common laborer. As I got closer, he saw me and stopped what he was doing.

"Hi, Albert." Andrew seemed to be in a good mood. I did not have to guess why. Love can make you feel like you are on top of the world.

I did not respond to him at first. Instead, I just continued to walk right up. "Hi."

"Are you alright?"

I thought I was putting on a pretty good straight face, but my annoyance must have shown through. "I just came over because I wanted to ask you something, Andrew. We're supposed to be friends, right?"

Andrew looked confused at my question. "Yeah."

"Friends like us shouldn't keep things from each other, especially if it might hurt one of them." I was holding my tongue, trying not to completely lash out at him right off the bat.

"Albert, what are you talking about?" Andrew seemed clueless. I guess that was not completely new knowing him. Still, even looking at him made my blood start to boil. This was the guy Macy wanted over me. Andrew never seemed like a great catch. No girl would ever fond over him before and he never showed interest in any of them.

"You're not good enough for her." I whispered under my breath. It was probably not the smartest thing to say, but I was angry at Andrew and needed to vent somehow.

"What?"

"I never even saw you two together. Neither of you said anything about seeing each other." I started to belt out my bottled up feelings. "You must have known how I felt about her. Is that why you didn't tell me that you were seeing her? Did she ever talk about me?"

"Macy?" He was finally starting to get it.

"Yes! Macy! Who else would I be talking about?" The anger inside of me finally needed to lash out and I forcefully shoved Andrew. Although it was not strong enough to knock him down, but it sure did tick him off.

"You've got to be kidding me! She rejects you and you're taking it out on me!" Andrew did know what happened, how Macy broke my heart. I wondered what else he knew, what else she told him involving me.

"She only rejected me because of you!" I shoved Andrew again with more force, throwing him off balance.

"Oh please! Albert, you do this all the time! You see a pretty girl, take her on a couple of walks and suddenly you're in love. Just because you two went fishing together and sat near each other in class doesn't mean she suddenly had feelings for you. You're so blind you couldn't even see she only ever saw you as a friend."

"Well it sure would have been nice for my best friend to tell me that he was seeing her! I loved her!"

"Bull." Andrew said out loud.

With that, I lunged at him, bring us both to the ground and I immediately started swinging for his face. This was one of the few times in my life I let my anger completely overtake me. To my misfortune, Andrew was still stronger than me. Without much effort, he managed to block my punches, flip me over and pin my arms down. I tried to kick at him to get him off of me.

"Andy! Albert!" There was a voice calling out to us. "Andrew, what on earth are you doing?"

We both froze, looked over and saw Mrs. Garvey running towards us. How much did she see? Andrew slowly got off of me, surely not wanting to act this way in front of his mother. I stumbled to my own feet.

Just then, I noticed Andrew glare at me with an intense look in his eyes. I had seen that look before, back when he lashed out at me for causing the fire at the blind school. I had no time to react when he took a step towards me. Andrew swung at my face hard. Suddenly, I was on the ground in a daze.

"Andrew!"

The next few moments were a blur for me. Mrs. Garvey brought me inside their home while Andrew stayed outside. She tried to help me clean the dirt off my clothes and asked me what her son and I were fighting each other about. I did not want to tell her. I tired to rush out of there. After finally convincing Mrs. Garvey I was okay to walk home, I left the property, but not before noticing Andrew staring at me with his own annoyance and anger.

This was the second time our friendship was put under strain and as I was turning my back to him, I was not sure if it would ever recover after this.

That night, I told my parents that Andrew and I had gotten into an argument to explain my newly developing black eye, but left out the real reason why he hit me. Pa was the most confused and wanted to go over to the Garvey's with me to fix the situation. I told him that it was between Andrew and I, and he did not have to worry about it. It should not affect him and ma's friendship with Jonathan and Alice. Still, I could tell they wanted this rift to end soon.

Doubt it.

The following day, I was walking to town to drop off a letter ma wanted to be mailed. I did not know what was in it or who it was for, but she said I might find out soon enough. As I made my way into town, I saw Macy and her mother standing outside of the mercantile, talking to Mr. Oleson. I was not sure if I should go over to her. This was my first time seeing her since the rejection.

"Albert!" Macy called to me, while I was looking in an opposite direction. "What on earth happened to you?"

I assumed she was referring to my still swollen eye. It did not hurt that much anymore. "I just got into an argument with someone."

"Oh no." Her response was a bit awkward, like she did not know how to talk to me anymore.

"It's alright. It barely even hurts." I smiled. Look at me, still trying to win her over. Maybe I should have just told her who hit me?

"Albert." Macy looked sad or more so guilty. "I'm sorry about what happened at the festival."

"Don't be." I hated that she seemed to be upset. For some reason, I could not be mad at her.

"Do you think we could still be friends?"

Friends. Even though I still wanted to be more than just her friend and how I might have lost my best friend because of her. "Of course. Friends and fishing buddies."

"Thanks." She started smiling again. "I have head home now, but I'll be seeing you around. Maybe we could set up a time to go fishing?"

"Definitely."

"Alright! Bye, Albert." Macy ran back over to her mother.

"Bye, Macy." I waved a quick goodbye then continued my walk to the postoffice to drop off the letter.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, besides my injured eye really starting to hurt again. By the time I was getting ready for bed, I had to hold a cold cloth on my face to numb the pain. Even though I could treat my physical injury, my hurt feelings still stirred around inside of me.

"Albert."

I looked up and saw Laura hanging over her bed. "Yeah?"

"How does your eye feel?" She asked.

"It actually hurts a bit now." I told her honestly. "But it's not all that bad."

"That's good." Laura started smiling. "Hey, if you don't have plans to do anything tomorrow, would you want to go fishing together?"

"Sure." I pulled the cloth away from my face, putting on an act of not feeling any pain. "It has been awhile since the two of us went fishing together."

"Alright. Goodnight, Albert."

"Night, Laura."

The following day, Laura and I went fishing together. She originally wanted to fish at the spot where I took Macy. However, I managed to change the fishing site to the creek. When we first put our poles in the water, there was not much of a conversation, which was fine for me. I did not really feel like talking, but I could sense Laura was holding her tongue.

"So, Albert." Laura finally spoke. "I feel like I should tell you that pa is worried about you."

I was taken back my Laura's statement. "About what?"

"About getting in that fight with Andy." She told me.

I sighed. I had told pa not to worry about it. "Laura, it was just a disagreement and we started shoving each other around."

"It's just you two finally were on good terms again after not speaking to each other for months. He didn't want you to lose your best friend."

Best friend? Yeah. There was a point when I did consider Andy my best friend, but that was changing. "Just tell pa not to worry about it."

The silenced returned between us, only this time it was a bit more awkward. Normally, I got annoyed hearing Laura talk about Almanzo time after time, but anything would be better than this.

"So, have you and Almanzo picked a date yet for your wedding?" I asked.

Laura smiled. "We're thinking end of July actually. Manly has a week long freighting job planned mid-month, which should give him enough money to finish the payment on the old Snider place."

Wrapped up in my own problems, I had completely forgotten that Almanzo said to pa that he had put a down payment on the Snider house. "Boy, time sure does fly. We won't be loft-mates in a couple of weeks."

Laura started laughing, but then lost that laughter while speaking. "Yeah. It's really exciting...but also kind of scary if you think about it. I don't seem to be catching much fish. I think I might head back home."

I watched Laura take her pole out of the water and sigh. "Is everything alright, Laura?"

She nodded, but I knew something was off. "Yeah. Everything will be fine. I'll see you back at the house, Albert."

"Okay." I watched as Laura walked away from the fishing spot. She really must be nervous about marrying Almanzo, even though she waited so long for him to notice her. Or maybe she was afraid of leaving her family. I should reminder her that the Snider place is only a few miles away from the little house.

I stayed by the water's edge for a bit longer, still not having that much luck on catching fish. Should have gone to the secret spot perhaps. Sitting out by myself, I started thinking out Macy again, which of course led to thinking about Andrew. Stop it! I did not want to deal with that mess right now. Not wanting to face with my own problems, I finally decided to head back home.

Walking down the street with my pole in hand, my eye started hurting again. I glanced over and saw the old clubhouse, which was miraculously still standing, despite the fact that none of us had not been in it for over a year, or so I thought. Just then, I swore I saw someone inside the structure. I made my way to the clubhouse and was surprised to see Andrew sitting up against the wall.

"Andy?"

He glared at me. "What the hell do you want, Albert?"

"What are you doing in here?" I asked, taking a step inside.

"Wow. You care about someone other than yourself." I was taken back by his statement. Andrew then grabbed a bottle that was besides him and started chugging from it. I knew he had drank before, but I had never actually seen him do it.

I felt nervous seeing Andrew acting like this. I came to terms with the fact that another fight with Andrew meant another black eye for me. "I...I didn't know you used this place to drink."

"Only because of you."

"Me?" I said, getting slightly annoyed.

"Yes. Macy and I were talking and she mentioned you having a black eye. I ended telling her that I was the one who hit you and now she doesn't want to be with me anymore."

"And you're blaming me." I felt a hitch in my throat after saying that with a bit of an attitude.

"Yes. Just like how you blamed me for Macy not wanting to be with you."

The tension in the air formed a vice around my neck. I did not want to stand in this place any longer. "So, this is it then. It seems to me like our friendship isn't going to last after all this."

Andrew stood up, anger bleeding out from his eyes. "You were the one who ruined the first real relationship I ever had. You were the one who made me feel awful about myself in school, so I started cheating. I always got in trouble with you because of your stupid ideas. And you..." He paused. "You were the one who almost killed my mother by smoking a stolen pipe. Why the hell did I even stay friends with you after everything you did?"

I knife was thrown into my chest after hearing all the things Andrew blamed me for. Suddenly, my crush on Macy did not seem like such a big deal. Andrew turned away from me.

"Andy?" I was not sure what to say. Whose fault was it that this friendship was seemingly reaching its end?

"Get out of my life, Albert. I don't ever want to speak to you again."

"Andy, I-"

"Get out!"

* * *

_Third Person POV_

_"Hi, Andrew." Macy walked up to the boy she had secretly been seeing over the past few weeks. After her brother abandoned his family to marry some girl, Macy thought she needed to keep any relations she had a secret in the hopes of not upsetting her father. Of course she never imagined falling for someone just after the move to Walnut Grove. Andrew Garvey just seemed so different from all the other men Macy had known in her life._

_"Hey, Macy." Andrew immediately noticed something was off about the girl standing in front of him. Normally, Macy always had a smile on her face, but right now she seemed really down. "Is everything okay? You don't look all that happy."_

_Macy sighed. "I just got to thinking about Albert again. I felt awful for how I turned him down at the festival. I saw him earlier today and he had a black eye. Apparently he got into a fight with someone. I just feel so bad for him now."_

_"Macy." Andrew rubbed the back of his neck. Was he really going to admit this? Why did it always seem to come back to Albert? "I...should I be completely honest with you?"_

_"Of course." Macy looked the boy up and down, not knowing where he could possibly be taking the conversation. "Andrew, what it is?"_

_"It was me." He admitted plain and simple. Andrew knew this would not help his image, but if he really wanted this relationship to work out, he had to be honest. He had real feelings for Macy and felt a sweet happiness every time they were together. "I was the one who hit Albert."_

_"What?" Macy was shocked and confused with Andrew's confession. "Why? I thought you two were supposed to be friends."_

_Andrew sighed this time, unsure about how to explain the situation in a way that did not make him seem like the bad guy. "He found out about us and blamed me for you turning him down."_

_Macy shook her head. "And that gave you the right to hit him?"_

_"Macy, he swung at me first." Andrew tried to defend his side of the argument._

_"That shouldn't matter. You never should have hit him."_

_"Are you kidding me right now?" Andrew was completely shocked at Macy's reaction. He was sure Macy would be on his side, or at least understand his position. How was he supposed to know Albert would lash out at him for Macy's actions._

_"No!" Macy started seeing this boy in a whole new light. "Andrew, I thought you were better than all of them."_

_"I'm not the one who started it. Albert's the one who blew things out of proportion."_

_"Andrew..." Macy paused. She did not want this. She did not want to be involved in drama or conflict, not after what happened with her brother. If being with Andrew meant she would be stuck in another uncomfortable situation, then she wanted out. "Maybe this was a mistake?"_

_"What?" Andrew knew where this was going, and he did not like it._

_"Maybe we rushed into this relationship without thinking it all the way through."_

_"Macy, I don't understand. Is this all because of Albert? I mean..." Andrew grabbed Macy's hand. He did not want to lose her. "I thought we really had something."_

_"I'm sorry, Andrew. I just don't want to be with you right now. I can't."_

_"Macy, please. Please don't do this." Andrew begged, wanting to hold onto her for a moment longer, but she pulled back._

_"I'll see you around. Goodbye." Macy turned around and began to walk away from the boy she thought she was falling for._

_"Macy, wait!" Andrew called out to her as she quickened her pace away from him. He had never felt so defeated. "Macy!"_


	3. Something New

_Chapter__ 3: Something New_

_Albert POV_

"Albert."

I looked over and saw pa climbing up to the barn loft where I say sitting. I should have been cleaning out the barn stalls, but my mind was elsewhere. "Oh. Yeah, pa?"

"Everything alright, son?" He took a seat next to me. It was only a matter of time before he started questioning me about what all was going on.

I did not really want to talk about it. "I don't know."

"Hey, come on." Pa put his hand on my shoulder. He was always tried to help people in emotional turmoil, especially me. "You can talk to me, Albert. You've been acting strange for days now, so why don't you just be honest and tell me what's going on."

I took a moment to think about what I was going to say. Where should I even begin? I hurt to admit that maybe this whole problem was mainly my fault to begin with. I saw that now. I should have just taken Macy's rejection and felt happy for my friend. "I...I made a mistake."

"What are you talking about?"

I sighed. Already reliving the memories in my mind, back to when I supposed this mess all got started. "There was this new girl at school that I really liked, but she didn't feel the same way about me. And I...I took out my frustrations about it out on Andy."

Pa took his hand off of my shoulder. "On Andy? Why?"

"Because Macy liked him instead me. I blamed him for her rejecting me."

"Is that what your fight was about?" Pa managed to peice together what had happened.

"Yeah...over some girl." It was hard for me to believe that a girl was the nail in the coffin for my friendship with Andy. Of course, there were lots of other nails already set that Andy blamed me for.

"Come on, Albert. You and Andy have been friends for years. Don't let some girl come between you two."

"It doesn't matter now. He never wants to speak to me again." I felt myself starting to cry.

Over three years ago now, I was living on the streets, struggling to survive. Then the Ingalls came to town. Pa showed interest in me, looked out for me, offered me food and a place to stay. He gave me a new life and brought me to Walnut Grove. I would forever be in his debt. Throughout my transition from street orphan to adopted son, Laura and Andy were the two people who made me feel like a normal kid. I could be myself around them and I enjoyed when the three of us got into trouble together. There was a time when I thought we would face the world together.

But now, Laura was planning out her new life with Almanzo and Andrew wanted nothing to do with me. How could things change this fast?

"He said that?" Pa asked. I could tell he was having a hard time believing what I was telling him.

"Yes." I whipped my face off with my hands. Turns out I was crying after all. "Face it, pa. Our friendship was over the moment when I stole that pipe."

"Hang on there, son. That was an accident. I don't go blaming yourself again for what happened." Pa held onto my shoulders. Of course he would say that the fire was not my fault. Pa had been trying to convince that to me for months. I almost killed his grandchild.

"It doesn't matter anymore. Andrew hates me. It's just over." I pushed pa away and went to climb down from the loft. I did not want to talk about this anymore. It hurt too much.

I worked by myself for the rest of the day to finish my chores. At one point saw pa talking to ma, probably about me. I was sure they were planning on talking to the Garvey's about what happened between their sons, so they could get Andrew and I to work out our problems. However, nothing they tried to do would help us now.

As the day dragged on, I had finally finished my chores and was walking back inside the house to offer ma some help with cooking dinner. Just then, I heard a wagon coming up to our house. I turned around, but did not recognize the man behind the horses. Pa went over to him and shook his hand like they in fact did know each other. With a smile, pa brought the stranger over to the house, with the rest of my family coming out to see who he was.

"Mr. Webb, this is my wife Caroline, my daughters Laura and Carrie, and my son Albert." Pa introduced us all. "This is Hector Webb. I met him in town the other day. Him and his daughter moved into the old Thompson place."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Webb." Ma said.

Webb tipped his hat. "Likewise, ma'am."

Just then, a young girl, maybe around my age, came out from behind the wagon. "Pa."

"Oh. This is my daughter, Sylvia." He introduced the girl to us. "Sylvia, these are the Ingalls."

"Hello. It's nice to meet all of you." Sylvia smiled as softly as she spoke. She was a pretty girl, not drop dead gorgeous, but the kind that had a sweet heart. If I was feeling any better, I would have tried to act like a real gentlemen for her. I wondered if she would be attending school in the fall.

"Would you like to stay for supper, Mr. Webb?" Ma offered up some of her finest. "I'm cooking up plenty."

"Oh no thank you, Mrs. Ingalls. We just wanted to drop by and meet our new neighbors." Webb graciously denied the invitation and already began to take his leave with Sylvia. "We'll see you all at service on Sunday."

Pa nodded, as Webb and Sylvia climbed onto their wagon. "We'll see you then. Take care."

As the wagon started making up way the hill away from our home, pa walked back over to us.

"They seem like nice people." Laura commented.

"Yup. I'm sure they'll make a fine addition to our town." Pa agreed with Laura. "I'm going to go pick up Adam, Mary and Hester Sue for dinner."

I had completely forgotten that the Kendall's were joining us for dinner tonight. Adam and Mary, along with their baby and Hester Sue had been staying in the rooms above Doc Baker's office ever since the blind school burnt down. It was originally planned to rebuild the school as soon as possible. But after Adam's father died, the reconstruction was delayed due to lack of funding and the site of the old school was abandoned. They had been trying to save up enough money to rent out another building somewhere close by, but even after a whole year, they were having no luck finding a place big enough for all of the kids.

I avoided Mary and Adam at all costs after the fire. Even though they said they forgave me for what happened and that it was an accident, I still felt awkward around them. Adam Jr. was over a year old now and I never wanted to hold him. It's funny how I originally tried to make good by the Garvey's for what happened, but completely shut the Kendall's out of my life. I suppose it was because I destroyed the school they held so dear to their hearts.

Dinner that night was even more uncomfortable than I thought it would be. Mary and Adam kept talking about how the last place they tried to rent for a new school did not work out. It felt like jabs in my direction. Hester Sue and Laura kept fondling over A.J. I could tell Laura would want to have kids with Almanzo as soon as they got married at the end of July. So much for her becoming the school teacher once Miss Wilder leaves if she wanted to have kids this young.

I excused myself after eating, hoping that no one would talk about me while I was outside trying to escape from their stares.

The following morning, I decided to go fishing by myself. I needed the time alone to process what was happening, also just needing a break from it all. While I was walking to my trustee fishing spot, I noticed someone was already there.

The young girl turned around as I approached her and I thought I recognized her. "Hello."

"Hi. You're Sylvia, right?" I asked her.

"Yup, Sylvia Webb." She smiled and nodded her head. "And you're Mr. Ingalls' son. Albert?"

"That's me." I smiled back. "Sorry if I'm intruding."

"Not at all." Sylvia shifted over. "You can come and join me if you want to. The fish are really biting."

I nodded and walked up to her. "That's because you're at the best spot for fishing in the entire township."

"I just stumbled on it. Didn't realize it was a prized spot."

I took a seat next to Sylvia by the water side and threw my pole in the water. Even though I came out here to be alone, I didn't so much mind her sitting next to me. Sylvia had a comforting presence around her. "So, where did you and your pa move from?"

"Kansas." She began to explain. "He owned some land down there, but it wasn't producing that much crop. So, we moved up to Walnut Grove after he heard about some job opportunities."

I understood that well enough. "I hope you like living here. Are you going to be attending school in the fall?"

"That's the plan." Sylvia nodded her head, never losing that smile.

"My sister Laura is actually the assistant school teacher." I told her, not wanting to brag. It just came out.

"That must be weird having your own sister teach you. So, you're her favorite then?"

"Hardly." I actually started laughing. There was just something about this girl Sylvia that made me feel a whole lot better. It was like all of my troubles went away while I was talking to her. Maybe it was because she had no idea of my past mistakes. We talked and fished together for a little while longer, until Sylvia said she needed to go home to make dinner for her pa.

"Thanks for keeping me company, Albert." She said as she stood up with her line of freshly caught fish in hand.

I smiled back. "It was nice getting to know you, Sylvia. I hope to see you around."

"Definitely." Sylvia turned to walk away, but then quickly glanced back to me. "Goodbye, Albert."

"Bye."

* * *

_Third Person POV_

"Hi, Andy."

Andrew turned around to see a familiar face walking up to him. "Hello, Miss Ingalls."

Laura shook her head. "I thought I told you guys not to call me that outside of school."

"Sorry, Laura." Andrew smiled. "I had to force myself to address you like that in the first place."

It had been forever since the Andrew and Laura talked to each other, just the two of them. Sad how once strong friendships could just fade out without much of a reason.

"Well, next semester you'll have to address me by another name." Laura continued with the harmless joking around.

"No, actually I won't." Andrew admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not going back to school in the fall." He began to explain to his old friend. "I talked it over with my parents and they said I could be done. I'm going for a job at the new freighting business coming into town."

"Oh." Laura paused, not really expecting Andrew to say something like that. She came to talk to him for one particular reason. "Hey, I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

Andrew already had a feeling about what it was she wanted from him. "About what?"

"About Albert." Laura sighed. She had been trying to understand what was going on with her brother, not getting much information from him. "He's been really out of it after the fight you two had."

Andrew did not say anything in response. He expected Charles to come talk to him about Albert, not Laura.

"Isn't there any way for you two to talk about what happened and try to make up?" She asked, almost begged of him.

"No. Laura, I can't." Andrew stated bluntly.

"Andy, you were his best friend. Albert hated himself for what happened at the blind school. When you stopped talking to him, he was so lost and sad. We thought things were better when you two started being friends again."

"Look." Andrew sighed, not wanting to go through all of this right now. "Laura, I'm sorry, but I just can't be his friend anymore."

"You're really not going to give him another chance?"

Andrew looked down in frustration. "I already gave him one. I'm sorry things had to end the way they did between us, but I just want it to be over."

Laura could not think of anything else to say that might chance Andrew's mind. "Fine."


End file.
